Ecclesiastes 7:7

Wisdom'Although Vulnerable'Is Beneficial

⁶ for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.
⁷ Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe destroys the mind.
⁸ The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.

Wise Man

Deuteronomy 16:19

Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

Exodus 23:8

You must not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words of the righteous.

Proverbs 17:23

A wicked man secretly takes a bribe
to subvert the course of justice.

Deuteronomy 28:33-34

A people you don’t know will eat your land’s produce and everything you have labored for. You will only be oppressed and crushed continually.

Deuteronomy 28:65

You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit.

1 Samuel 8:3

However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

1 Samuel 12:3

Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged or mistreated? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to overlook something? I will return it to you.”

Proverbs 17:8

A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.

Ecclesiastes 4:1

Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them.

Isaiah 1:23

Your rulers are rebels,
friends of thieves.
They all love graft
and chase after bribes.
They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,
and the widow’s case never comes before them.

Isaiah 33:15

The one who lives righteously
and speaks rightly,
who refuses gain from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots
and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil—